Search results for: urban communities

Authors: Aïssa Rezzoug

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This paper is aimed to bring new elements that demonstrate the tide caused the groundwater to rise in the shoreline band, on which the urban areas occurs, especially in the western coastal cities of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia like Jeddah. The reason for the last events of Jeddah inundation was the groundwater rise in the city coupled at the same time to a strong precipitation event. This paper will illustrate the tide participation in increasing the groundwater level significantly. It shows that the reason for internal groundwater recharge within the urban area is not only the excess of the water supply coming from surrounding areas, due to the human activity, with lack of sufficient and efficient sewage system, but also due to tide effect. The research study follows a quantitative method to assess groundwater level rise risks through many in-situ measurements and mathematical modelling. The proposed approach highlights groundwater level, in the urban areas of the city on the shoreline band, reaching the high tide level without considering any input from precipitation. Despite the small tide in the Red Sea compared to other oceanic coasts, the groundwater level is considerably enhanced by the tide from the seaside and by the freshwater table from the landside of the city. In these conditions, the groundwater level becomes high in the city and prevents the soil to evacuate quickly enough the surface flow caused by the storm event, as it was observed in the last historical flood catastrophe of Jeddah in 2009.

Keywords: flood, groundwater rise, Jeddah, tide

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Authors: Harinder Singh

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The paper sheds light on the perceptions of the uninsured workers employed in the urban informal sector of India, towards the health insurance. In addition to this, it also explores the association of the identified perceptions with household decisions to enroll for health insurance schemes in India. Firstly the data taken from the primary survey of the uninsured workers employed in the urban informal sector was analyzed using exploratory factor analysis to evaluate the perceptions. Thereafter, logistic regression was employed to determine the association of the identified perceptions regarding the enrollment. Our study identifies twelve perceptions related to the health insurance enrollment of the uninsured workers employed in the urban informal sector of India. The study demonstrates that perceptions have the strongest association with the voluntary enrollment. These specifically relate to the lack of awareness about the need to buy health insurance; comprehensive coverage; income constraint; future contingencies and social obligations; lack of information; availability of subsidized government health care; linkage with government hospitals and preference for government schemes. Conclusions: Along with the food security, health security has become a crying need of the workers employed in the informal sector and the time has come to scale up the health insurance schemes for them in the country. Policy makers or marketers of health insurance policies should recognize the household perceptions as a potential barrier and try to develop a health insurance package as per the actual needs of the informal sector (low income) in India.

Keywords: association, enrollment, health insurance, informal sector, perceptions, uninsured

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Authors: Ziwei Guo, Liangping Hong, Zhiguo Ye

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The exogenous modernization process in China and other late-coming countries, is not resulted from a gradual growth of their own modernity features, but a conscious response to external challenges. Under this context, it had been equally important for Chinese cities to make themselves ‘Chinese’ as well as ‘modern’. Wuhan was the first opened inland treaty port in late Qing Dynasty. In the following one hundred years, Wuhan transferred from a feudal town to a modern industrial city. It is a good example to illustrate the urban construction and cultural heritage through the process and impact of social transformation. An overall perspective on transformation will contribute to develop the city`s uniqueness and enhance its inclusive development. The study chooses the history of Wuhan from 1861 to 1957 as the study period. The whole transformation process will be divided into four typical periods based on key historical events, and the paper analyzes the changes on urban structure and constructions activities in each period. Then, a lot of examples are used to compare the features of Wuhan modern city heritage in the four periods. In this way, three characteristics of Wuhan modern city heritage are summarized. The paper finds that globalization and localization worked together to shape the urban physical space environment. For Wuhan, social transformation has a profound and comprehensive impact on urban construction, which can be analyzed in the aspects of main construction, architecture style, location and actors. Moreover, the three towns of Wuhan have a disparate cityscape that is reflected by the varied heritages and architecture features over different transformation periods. Lastly, the protection regulations and conservation planning of heritage in Wuhan are discussed, and suggestions about the conservation of Wuhan modern heritage are tried to be drawn. The implications of the study are providing a new perspective on modern city heritage for cities like Wuhan, and the future local planning system and heritage conservation policies can take into consideration the ‘Modern Cultural Transformation Route’ in this paper.

Keywords: modern city heritage, transformation, identity, Wuhan

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Authors: Neslihan Karatas, Sibel Ecemis Kilic

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This paper aims to examine macro-scale plans and projects/investments which have been prepared for İzmir since The Republican Period. Macro projects that were proposed by central government, local government, industry and urban actors such as the chamber of commerce will be discussed and these projects and its reflections to the city's macro scale planning decisions will be evaluated based on existing development. Effects of macro plans, the related private and public investments, the developments of unplanned/specific projects to the current city form will be discussed. The factors and plans which determine urban form and the problems caused by unanticipated/uncontrolled developments will be evaluated. The proposals will be developed about more efficient planning process.

Keywords: Izmir, macro projects, macro investments, planning

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Authors: Z. Liu, K. Cao

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Strategic spatial planning, which is taken as an effective and competitive way for the governors of the city to improve the development and management level of a city, has been blooming in recent years all over the world. In the context of globalization and informatization, strategic spatial planning must transfer its focus on three different levels: global, regional and urban. Internal and external changes in environmental conditions lead to new advances in strategic planning both theoretically and practically. However, such advances or changes respond differently to cities on account of different dynamic mechanisms. This article aims at two cities of Tianjin in China and Melbourne in Australia, through a comparative study on strategic planning, to explore the differentiation of mechanisms in urban planning making. By comparison and exploration, the purpose of this article is to exhibit two different planning worlds between western and Chinese in a new way nowadays.

Keywords: differentiation, Tianjin China, Melbourne Australia, strategic planning

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Authors: Haniyeh Sameie

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In the process of globalization, geographical boundaries gradually lose their importance, and ethnic, local, and regional cultures are integrated with each other and even marginalized. Globalization has many manifestations and aspects, including economic, political, social, etc., but this paper has focused on the cultural aspect of globalization. From this point of view, one of the important issues that have always been raised is the assimilation of diverse and plural cultures, which are gradually disappearing and destroyed in the onslaught of global culture and are dissolved in global culture. In the postmodern paradigm, the tools of the globalized world can be used to preserve and strengthen cultural diversity. For example, the Internet, as a globalization tool, can play an important role in preserving and recognizing local cultures. In today's world, the world nations and ethnic groups are trying to revive their specific and native cultures in different ways in opposition to the rising cultural assimilation and challenge the globalization of culture. One of the manifestations of these actions is addressing the issue of tourism and, specifically, eco-tourism, which is being developed in Iran as well as in other parts of the world, relying on the powerful tool of globalization, the Internet. Considering the significant growth of the ecotourism industry in Iran in recent years, this paper focuses on the role of the Internet in the development of ecotourism in Iran as one of the manifestations of tourism in recent decades and how to preserve and survive diverse local cultures and strengthen local communities against global culture through it. One of the major challenges in the development of communication technology in Iran in the last decade has been the debate over the necessity or non-necessity of access to high-speed Internet in the villages of Iran. Some believe that accessing the broadband internet in the villages may lead to the disappearance of local cultures and can facilitate the spread of western culture among villagers. On the other hand, the speed of expansion of ecotourism in Iran in the last ten years is owed to the development of the Internet in villages. In this regard, we pay attention to the dual role of the Internet in cultural assimilation and, at the same time, the platform that the online space has created for the growth and development of ecotourism accommodations as a source of stable income for local communities, focusing on the Iranian experience in the recent decade.

Keywords: tourism, globalization, internet, ecotourism in Iran, cultural assimilation

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Authors: Rungpansa Noichan, Bart Julian Dewancker

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Thailand facing the transportation issue because of the rapid economic development. The big issue is the traffic jam, especially in Bangkok. However, recently years Bangkok has operated urban mass transit system for solved transportation problem. The Bangkok Mass Transit System (BTS) skytrain is being operated by the BTS Company Limited under the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration. The passenger satisfaction is a major cause for concern due to the commercial nature. The focus of this paper is to evaluate the passenger satisfaction at the mass transit node by questionnaires survey. The survey was to find out the passenger attitudes. The result shows several important factors that influence the passenger choice of using the BTS as a public transportation mode and the passenger’s opinion.

Keywords: urban transportation, user satisfaction, accessibility, Bangkok mass transit

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Authors: M. Shahab Uddin, Pennung Warnitchai

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Currently more than half of the world’s populations are living in cities, and the number and sizes of cities are growing faster than ever. Cities rely on the effective functioning of complex and interdependent critical infrastructures networks to provide public services, enhance the quality of life, and save the community from hazards and disasters. In contrast, complex connectivity and interdependency among the urban critical infrastructures bring management challenges and make the urban system prone to the domino effect. Unplanned rapid growth, increased connectivity, and interdependency among the infrastructures, resource scarcity, and many other socio-political factors are affecting the typical state of an urban system and making it susceptible to numerous sorts of diversion. In addition to internal vulnerabilities, urban systems are consistently facing external threats from natural and manmade hazards. Cities are not just complex, interdependent system, but also makeup hubs of the economy, politics, culture, education, etc. For survival and sustainability, complex urban systems in the current world need to manage their vulnerabilities and hazardous incidents more wisely and more interactively. Coordinated management in such systems makes for huge potential when it comes to absorbing negative effects in case some of its components were to function improperly. On the other hand, ineffective management during a similar situation of overall disorder from hazards devastation may make the system more fragile and push the system to an ultimate collapse. Following the quantum, the current research hypothesizes that a hazardous event starts its journey as an emergency, and the system’s internal vulnerability and response capacity determine its destination. Connectivity and interdependency among the urban critical infrastructures during this stage may transform its vulnerabilities into dynamic damaging force. An emergency may turn into a disaster in the absence of effective management; similarly, mismanagement or lack of management may lead the situation towards a catastrophe. Situation awareness and factual decision-making is the key to win a battle. The current research proposed a contextual decision support system for an urban critical infrastructure system while integrating three different models: 1) Damage cascade model which demonstrates damage propagation among the infrastructures through their connectivity and interdependency, 2) Restoration model, a dynamic restoration process of individual infrastructure, which is based on facility damage state and overall disruptions in surrounding support environment, and 3) Optimization model that ensures optimized utilization and distribution of available resources in and among the facilities. All three models are tightly connected, mutually interdependent, and together can assess the situation and forecast the dynamic outputs of every input. Moreover, this integrated model will hold disaster managers and decision makers responsible when it comes to checking all the alternative decision before any implementation, and support to produce maximum possible outputs from the available limited inputs. This proposed model will not only support to reduce the extent of damage cascade but will ensure priority restoration and optimize resource utilization through adaptive and collaborative management. Complex systems predictably fail but in unpredictable ways. System understanding, situation awareness, and factual decisions may significantly help urban system to survive and sustain.

Keywords: disaster prevention, decision support system, emergency response, urban critical infrastructure system

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Authors: Mehdi Boukri, Mohammed Naboussi Farsi, Mounir Naili, Omar Amellal, Mohamed Belazougui, Ahmed Mebarki, Nabila Guessoum, Brahim Mezazigh, Mounir Ait-Belkacem, Nacim Yousfi, Mohamed Bouaoud, Ikram Boukal, Aboubakr Fettar, Asma Souki

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The seismic risk to which the urban centres are more and more exposed became a world concern. A co-operation on an international scale is necessary for an exchange of information and experiments for the prevention and the installation of action plans in the countries prone to this phenomenon. For that, the 1990s was designated as 'International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR)' by the United Nations, whose interest was to promote the capacity to resist the various natural, industrial and environmental disasters. Within this framework, it was launched in 1996, the RADIUS project (Risk Assessment Tools for Diagnosis of Urban Areas Against Seismic Disaster), whose the main objective is to mitigate seismic risk in developing countries, through the development of a simple and fast methodological and operational approach, allowing to evaluate the vulnerability as well as the socio-economic losses, by probable earthquake scenarios in the exposed urban areas. In this paper, we will present the adaptation and application of this methodology to the Algerian context for the seismic risk evaluation in urban areas potentially exposed to earthquakes. This application consists to perform an earthquake scenario in the urban centre of Constantine city, located at the North-East of Algeria, which will allow the building seismic damage estimation of this city. For that, an inventory of 30706 building units was carried out by the National Earthquake Engineering Research Centre (CGS). These buildings were digitized in a data base which comprises their technical information by using a Geographical Information system (GIS), and then they were classified according to the RADIUS methodology. The study area was subdivided into 228 meshes of 500m on side and Ten (10) sectors of which each one contains a group of meshes. The results of this earthquake scenario highlights that the ratio of likely damage is about 23%. This severe damage results from the high concentration of old buildings and unfavourable soil conditions. This simulation of the probable seismic damage of the building and the GIS damage maps generated provide a predictive evaluation of the damage which can occur by a potential earthquake near to Constantine city. These theoretical forecasts are important for decision makers in order to take the adequate preventive measures and to develop suitable strategies, prevention and emergency management plans to reduce these losses. They can also help to take the adequate emergency measures in the most impacted areas in the early hours and days after an earthquake occurrence.

Keywords: seismic risk, mitigation, RADIUS, urban areas, Algeria, earthquake scenario, Constantine

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Authors: A. Szabó Nagy, J. Szabó, Zs. Csanádi, J. Erdős

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In Hungary, the measurement of ambient PM10-bound polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) concentrations is great importance for a number of reasons related to human health, the environment and compliance with European Union legislation. However, the monitoring of PAHs associated with PM2.5 aerosol fraction is still incomplete. Therefore, the main aim of this study was to investigate the concentration levels of PAHs in PM2.5 urban aerosol fraction. PM2.5 and associated PAHs were monitored in November 2014 in an urban site of Győr (Northwest Hungary). The aerosol samples were collected every day for 24-hours over two weeks with a high volume air sampler provided with a PM2.5 cut-off inlet. The levels of 19 PAH compounds associated with PM2.5 aerosol fraction were quantified by a gas chromatographic method. Polluted air quality for PM2.5 (>25 g/m3) was indicated in 50% of the collected samples. The total PAHs concentrations ranged from 2.1 to 37.3 ng/m3 with the mean value of 12.4 ng/m3. Indeno(123-cd)pyrene (IND) and sum of three benzofluoranthene isomers were the most dominant PAH species followed by benzo(ghi)perylene and benzo(a)pyrene (BaP). Using BaP-equivalent approach on the concentration data of carcinogenic PAH species, BaP, and IND contributed the highest carcinogenic exposure equivalent (1.50 and 0.24 ng/m3 on average). A selected number of concentration ratios of specific PAH compounds were calculated to evaluate the possible sources of PAH contamination. The ratios reflected that the major source of PAH compounds in the PM2.5 aerosol fraction of Győr during the study period was fossil fuel combustion from automobiles.

Keywords: air, PM2.5, benzo(a)pyrene, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon

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Authors: Alluri Swaroopa, L. V. N. Prasad

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Alone with fast urbanization in world, traffic control problem became a big issue in urban construction. Having an efficient and reliable traffic control system is crucial to macro-traffic control. Traffic signal is used to manage conflicting requirement by allocating different sets of mutually compatible traffic movement during distinct time interval. Many approaches have been made proposed to solve this discrete stochastic problem. Recognizing the need to minimize right-of-way impacts while efficiently handling the anticipated high traffic volumes, the proposed alternative system gives effective design. This model allows for increased traffic capacity and reduces delays by eliminating a step in maneuvering through the freeway interchange. The concept proposed in this paper involves construction of bridges and ramps at intersection of four roads to control the vehicular congestion and to prevent traffic breakdown.

Keywords: bridges, junctions, ramps, urban traffic control

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Authors: Gulsen Yilmaz

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Istanbul’s population has jumped by over 1 million in the past four years, to a level surpassing the overall population of 64 provinces in the country, according to data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK). In this paper, Istanbul's population change and migration effects can be examined in detail Tarlabasi neighborhood cultural center of the city of Istanbul, Istiklal Street, which is located a few hundred meters away. Tarlabasi the end of the nineteenth century in the historic district with built in the early twentieth century, there are four or five storey historic buildings. Tarlabasi, here come from southeastern Turkey and the illegal African immigrants living in Roma origin by the Kurds as a residential area is used. In this area to improve the quality of life for urban renewal projects have been initiated. The aim of this paper is to explore the spatial effects of demographic change and migration with Tarlabasi example.

Keywords: migration, immigration, Tarlabaşı, urban transformation

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Authors: Dimitra Riza

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This paper examines different ways of exploring a city by using smart phones' applications while walking, and the way this new attitude will change our perception of the urban environment. By referring to various examples of such applications we will consider options and possibilities that open up with new technologies, their advantages and disadvantages, as well as ways of experiencing and interpreting the urban environment. The widespread use of smart phones gave access to information, maps, knowledge, etc. at all times and places. The city tourism marketing takes advantage of this event and promotes the city's attractions through technology. Mobile mediated walking tours, provide new possibilities and modify the way we used to explore cities, for instance by giving directions proper to find easily destinations, by displaying our exact location on the map, by creating our own tours through picking points of interest and interconnecting them to create a route. These apps act as interactive ones, as they filter the user's interests, movements, etc. Discovering a city on foot and visiting interesting sites and landmarks, became very easy, and has been revolutionized through the help of navigational and other applications. In contrast to the re-invention of the city as suggested by the Baudelaire's Flâneur in the 19th century, or to the construction of situations by the Situationists in 60s, the new technological means do not allow people to "get lost", as these follow and record our moves. In the case of strolling or drifting around the city, the option of "getting lost" is desired, as the goal is not the "wayfinding" or the destination, but it is the experience of walking itself. Getting lost is not always about dislocation, but it is about getting a feeling, free of the urban environment while experiencing it. So, on the one hand, walking is considered to be a physical and embodied experience, as the observer becomes an actor and participates with all his senses in the city activities. On the other hand, the use of a screen turns out to become a disembodied experience of the urban environment, as we perceive it in a fragmented and distanced way. Relations with the city are similar to Alberti’s isolated viewer, detached from any urban stage. The smartphone, even if we are present, acts as a mediator: we interact directly with it and indirectly with the environment. Contrary to the Flaneur and to the Situationists, who discovered the city with their own bodies, today the body itself is being detached from that experience. While contemporary cities turn out to become more walkable, the new technological applications tend to open out all possibilities in order to explore them by suggesting multiple routes. Exploration becomes easier, but Perception changes.

Keywords: body, experience, mobile apps, walking

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Authors: Sanjeet Kumar Singh, Shantanu Bhatacharya

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Design of high-efficiency low, frequency (<1000Hz) soundproof window or wall absorber which is transparent to airflow is presented. Due to the massive rise in human population and modernization, environmental noise has significantly risen globally. Prolonged noise exposure can cause severe physiological and psychological symptoms like nausea, headaches, fatigue, and insomnia. There has been continuous growth in building construction and infrastructure like offices, bus stops, and airports due to the urban population. Generally, a ventilated window is used for getting fresh air into the room, but at the same time, unwanted noise comes along. Researchers used traditional approaches like noise barrier mats in front of the window or designed the entire window using sound-absorbing materials. However, this solution is not aesthetically pleasing, and at the same time, it's heavy and not adequate for low-frequency noise shielding. To address this challenge, we design a transparent hexagonal panel based on the Sierpiński fractal triangle, which is aesthetically pleasing and demonstrates a normal incident sound absorption coefficient of more than 0.96 around 700 Hz and transmission loss of around 23 dB while maintaining e air circulation through the triangular cutout. Next, we present a concept of fabrication of large acoustic panels for large-scale applications, which leads to suppressing urban noise pollution.

Keywords: acoustic metamaterials, ventilation, urban noise pollution, noise control

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Authors: Mark Opmeer

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The fruitful relationship between cultural heritage and digital technology is evident. Due to the development of user-friendly software, an increasing amount of heritage scholars use ict for their research activities. As a result, the implementation of information technology for heritage planning has become a research objective in itself. During the last decades, we have witnessed a growing debate and literature about the importance of computer technologies for the field of cultural heritage and ecotourism. Indeed, implementing digital technology in support of these domains can be very fruitful for one’s research practice. However, due to the rapid development of new software scholars may find it challenging to use these innovations in an appropriate way. As such, this contribution seeks to explore the interplay between geospatial technologies (geo-ict), civic engagement and cultural heritage and tourism. In this article, we discuss our findings on the use of geo-ict in support of civic participation, cultural heritage and sustainable tourism development in the southern Italian district of Brindisi. In the city of Latiano, three workshops were organized that involved local members of the community to distinguish and discuss interesting points of interests (POI’s) which represent the cultural significance and identity of the area. During the first workshop, a so called mappa della comunità was created on a touch table with collaborative mapping software, that allowed the participators to highlight potential destinations for tourist purposes. Furthermore, two heritage-based itineraries along a selection of identified POI’s was created to make the region attractive for recreants and tourists. These heritage-based itineraries reflect the communities’ ideas about the cultural identity of the region. Both trails were subsequently implemented in a dedicated mobile application (app) and was evaluated using a mixed-method approach with the members of the community during the second workshop. In the final workshop, the findings of the collaboration, the heritage trails and the app was evaluated with all participants. Based on our conclusions, we argue that geospatial technologies have a significant potential for involving local communities in heritage planning and tourism development. The participants of the workshops found it increasingly engaging to share their ideas and knowledge using the digital map of the touch table. Secondly, the use of a mobile application as instrument to test the heritage-based itineraries in the field was broadly considered as fun and beneficial for enhancing community awareness and participation in local heritage. The app furthermore stimulated the communities’ awareness of the added value of geospatial technologies for sustainable tourism development in the area. We conclude this article with a number of recommendations in order to provide a best practice for organizing heritage workshops with similar objectives.

Keywords: civic engagement, geospatial technologies, tourism development, cultural heritage

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Authors: Phong Le Ha

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In many cities the entire world, the relationship between cities and rivers is always considered as a fundament of urban history research because of their profound interactions. This kind of relationship makes the river zones become extremely sensitive in many aspects. One of the most important aspect is their roles in the drainage of cities. In this paper we will examine an extraordinary case of Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam and Red river zones. This river has contradictory impacts to this city: It is considered as a source of life of the inhabitants who live along its two banks, however, the risk of inundation caused by the complicated hydrology system of this river is always a real threat to the cities that it flows through. Morphologically, Red river was connected to the inner rivers system that made Hanoi a complete form of a river city. This structure combined with the topography of Hanoi helps this city to assure a stable drainage system in which the river zones in the north of Hanoi play some extreme important roles. Nevertheless, in the late 20 years, Hanoi's strong urbanization and the instability of Red river's complicated hydrology make the very remarkable transformations in the relationship river-city and in the river zones: The connection between the river and the city declines; the system of inner lakes are progressively replaced by habitat land; in the river zones, the infrastructure system can't adapt to the transformations of the new quarters which have the origin of the agricultural villages. These changes bring out many chances for the urban development, but also many risks and problems, particularly in the environment and technical sides. Among these, pluvial and used water evacuation is one of the most severe problems. The disappear of inner-city lakes, the high dike and the topographical changes of Hanoi blow up the risk of inundation of this city. In consequences, the riverine zones, particularly in the north of Hanoi, where the two most important water evacuation rivers of Hanoi meet each other, are burdened with the drainage pressure. The unique water treatment plant in this zone seems to be overcharged in receiving each day about 40000m3 of used water (not include pluvial water). This kind of problem leads also to another risk related to the environmental pollution (water pollution and air pollution). So, in order to better understand the situation and to propose the solutions to resolve the problems, an interdisciplinary research covering many different fields such urban planning, architecture, geography, and especially drainage and environment has been carried out. In general, this paper will analyze an important part of the research : the process of urban transformation of Hanoi (changes in urban morphology, infrastructure system, evolution of the dike system, ...) and the hydrological changes of Red river which cause the drainage and environmental problems. The conclusions of these analyses will be the solid base of the following researches focusing on the solutions of a sustainable development.

Keywords: drainage, environment, Hanoi, infrastructure, red rivers, urbanization

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Authors: Habibi Said Mustafa, Hiroko Ono

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Since 2006, Afghanistan is dealing with one of the most dramatic trend of urban movement in its history, cities and towns are expanding in size and number. Kabul is the capital of Afghanistan and as well as the fast-growing city in the Asia. The influx of the returnees from neighbor countries and other provinces of Afghanistan caused high rate of artificial growth which slums increased. As an unwanted consequence of this growth, today informal settlements have covered a vast portion of the city. Land Readjustment (LR) has proved to be an important tool for developing informal settlements and reorganizing urban areas but its implementation always varies from country to country and region to region within the countries. Consequently, to successfully develop the informal settlements in Kabul, we need to define an Afghan model of LR specifically for Afghanistan which needs to incorporate all those factors related to the socio-economic condition of the country. For this purpose, a part of the old city of Kabul has selected as a study area which is located near the Central Business District (CBD). After the further analysis and incorporating all needed factors, the result shows a positive potential for the implementation of an adaptable Land Readjustment model for Kabul city which is more sustainable and socio-economically friendly. It will enhance quality of life and provide better urban services for the residents. Moreover, it will set a vision and criteria by which sustainable developments shall proceed in other similar informal settlements of Kabul.

Keywords: adaptation, informal settlements, Kabul, land readjustment, preservation

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Authors: Nishantha Giguruwa

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This research investigates the transformative potential of smart container farming, building upon the successful cultivation of Japanese mushrooms at Sakai Farms in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, under the strategic collaboration with the Daikei Group. Inspired by this success, the study focuses on establishing an advanced urban strawberry farming laboratory with the aim of understanding strawberry farming technologies, fostering collaboration, and strategizing marketing approaches for both local and global markets. Positioned within the business framework of Sakai Farms and the Daikei Group, the study underscores the sustainability and forward-looking solutions offered by smart container farming in agriculture. The global significance of strawberries is emphasized, acknowledging their economic and cultural importance. The detailed examination of strawberry farming intricacies informs the technological framework developed for smart containers, implemented at Sakai Farms. Integral to this research is the incorporation of controlled bee pollination, a groundbreaking addition to the smart container farming model. The study anticipates future trends, outlining avenues for continuing exploration, stakeholder collaborations, policy considerations, and expansion strategies. Notably, the author expresses a strategic intent to approach the global market, leveraging the foreign student/faculty base at Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University, where the author is affiliated. This unique approach aims to disseminate the research findings globally, contributing to the broader landscape of agricultural innovation. The integration of controlled bee pollination within this innovative framework not only enhances sustainability but also marks a significant stride in the evolution of urban agriculture, aligning with global agricultural trends.

Keywords: smart container farming, urban agriculture, strawberry farming technologies, controlled bee pollination, agricultural innovation

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Authors: Luís Pina

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The conservation of marine biodiversity keeps ecosystems in balance and ensures the sustainable use of resources. In this context, technological resources have been used for monitoring marine species to allow biologists to obtain data in real-time. There are different mobile applications developed for data collection for monitoring purposes, but these systems are designed to be utilized only on third-generation (3G) phones or smartphones with Internet access and in rural parts of the developing countries, Internet services and smartphones are scarce. Thus, the objective of this work is to develop a system to monitor marine turtles using Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD), which users can access through basic mobile phones. The system aims to improve the data collection mechanism and enhance the effectiveness of current systems in monitoring sea turtles using any type of mobile device without Internet access. The system will be able to report information related to the biological activities of marine turtles. Also, it will be used as a platform to assist marine conservation entities to receive reports of illegal sales of sea turtles. The system can also be utilized as an educational tool for communities, providing knowledge and allowing the inclusion of communities in the process of monitoring marine turtles. Therefore, this work may contribute with information to decision-making and implementation of contingency plans for marine conservation programs.

Keywords: GSM, marine biology, marine turtles, unstructured supplementary service data (USSD)

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Authors: Dr.Vasundhra Misra, Prof. Praveen Vashist

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Purpose: Vitamin A deficiency prevention programmes are at varying stages of development and implementation in all countries. Vitamin A deficiency has been recognized as a public health issue in developing countries like India. Despite achieving a lot of success a load of blindness due to Vitamin A deficiencies is still high. In this regard, a study was conducted to assess the awareness and health-seeking practices about Vitamin A deficiency diseases among the urban slum population of Delhi, India. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in the 5 slum clusters from the urban population of South Delhi. A specially designed pre-tested questionnaire schedule was administered. The study sample was comprised of 1552 inhabitants. Results: The mean age of the respondents was 34 ± 12.1 years. A total of 1003 (64.6%) participants out of 1552, had heard of night blindness. Awareness of night blindness was more in the elderly age group and also found significant (p < 0.001). Only 31 (3.1%) knew that night blindness is caused due to deficiency of vitamin A. The awareness of vitamin A prophylaxis programme was significantly higher among elder age (p < 0.05) and females (p < 0.05). Conclusion: The findings highlighted that even though many of the respondents have heard of night blindness but the awareness about causes and treatment was found low in the community. There is a need for efforts directed to enhance community-level counseling and educational programmes.

Keywords: awareness, health-seeking practices, night blindness, vitamin-A deficiency diseases

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Authors: D. Onanena Adegono, P. Altinsoy, A. Schuster, P. Schäfer

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Autonomous vehicles look set to drastically alter the way we move people and goods, in urban as well as rural areas. However, little has been written about Africa with this regard. Moreover, in order for this new technology to be adopted, user acceptance is vital. The current research examines the user acceptance of autonomous minibus shuttles, as a solution for first/last mile public transport in Pretoria, South Africa. Of the respondents surveyed, only 2.31% perceived them as not useful. Respondents showed more interest in using these shuttles in combination with the bus rapid transit system (75.4%) as opposed to other modes of public transportation (40%). The significance of these findings is that they can help ensure that the implementation of autonomous public transport in South Africa is adapted to the local user. Furthermore, these findings could be adapted for other South African cities and other cities across the continent.

Keywords: autonomous buses and shuttles, autonomous public transport, urban mobility, user acceptance

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Authors: Ishaq Alhassan Meriga

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This study examined the phenomenon of mob violence and its implication for peace in Ghana. The study used the archival study of media reports and content analysis of other secondary data as well as eyewitness accounts. The study examined trends and patterns of vigilante violence within the Ghanaian context. Results showed a considerable increase in the occurrence of mob violence within the last 10 years. Theft and robbery emerged as the most frequently suspected crimes for which victims were attacked, while the LGBT community is not left out. Cases of mob violence were most frequently reported in urban areas. This study has shown that the patterns, scope, nature, and implication of mob justice in Ghana are fairly and comparatively similar to those found in other parts of Africa and the globe. Mob violence is identified as undermining the rule of law and thereby infringing on the fundamental human rights of the victims. It is confirmed to have a cycle of effects that is an impediment to the peace of the country. The study underscores the implications of mob violence in terms of disdaining human life and dignity, revisiting our justice systems and punishment procedures, resourcing, and empowering law enforcers to fight the menace of vigilantism. First, the archival study had a limitation regarding missing data. The majority of the cases used for the study lack information mostly on perpetrators and the steps taken by public authorities and security agencies after reports of a mob attack have been lodged with them. The study recommends for further research to be undertaken on the perpetrators and survivors of mob actions in order to get a holistic understanding of the phenomenon. This will give a more comprehensive view of the issue of mob violence in Ghana. From the findings, it can be concluded that mob justice is a social canker in Ghanaian communities, which has a great impact on the peace of the country.

Keywords: LGBT, mob justice, peace, vigilantism

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Authors: Kartikey Gupta

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Global warming and environmental degradation are at their peak today, with the years after 2000A.D. giving way to 15 hottest years in terms of average temperatures. In India, much of the standard temperature measuring equipment are located in ‘developed’ urban areas, hence showing us an incomplete picture in terms of the climate across many rural areas, which comprises most of the landmass. This study showcases data studied by the author since 3 years at Vatsalya’s Children’s village, in outskirts of Jaipur, Rajasthan, India; in the midst of semi-arid topography, where consistently huge temperature differences of up to 15.8 degrees Celsius from local Jaipur weather only 30 kilometers away, are stunning yet scary at the same time, encouraging analysis of where the natural climatic pattern is heading due to rapid unrestricted urbanization. Record-breaking data presented in this project enforces the need to discuss causes and recovery techniques. This research further explores how and to what extent we are causing phenomenal disturbances in the natural meteorological pattern by urban growth. Detailed data observations using a standardized ambient weather station at study site and comparing it with closest airport weather data, evaluating the patterns and differences, show striking differences in temperatures, wind patterns and even rainfall quantity, especially during high-pressure zone days. Winter-time lows dip to 8 degrees below freezing with heavy frost and ice, while only 30 kms away minimum figures barely touch single-digit temperatures. Human activity is having an unprecedented effect on climatic patterns in record-breaking trends, which is a warning of what may follow in the next 15-25 years for the next generation living in cities, and a serious exploration into possible solutions is a must.

Keywords: climate change, meteorology, urban heat island, urbanization

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Authors: Felicite Ann Fairer-Wessels

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There has always been a disparity between mining and tourism mainly due to the socio-economic and environmental impacts of mines on both the adjacent resident communities and the areas taken up by the mining operation. Although heritage mining tourism has been actively and successfully pursued and developed in the UK, largely Wales, and Scandinavian countries, the debate whether active mining and tourism can have a mutually beneficial relationship remains imminent. This pilot study explores the relationship between the ‘to be developed’ future Nokeng Mine and its adjacent community, the rural community of Moloto, will be investigated in terms of whether sustainable tourism and livelihood activities can potentially be developed with the support of the mine. Concepts such as social entrepreneur, corporate social responsibility, sustainable development and triple bottom line are discussed. Within the South African context as a mineral rich developing country, the government has a statutory obligation to empower disenfranchised communities through social and labour plans and policies. All South African mines must preside over a Social and Labour Plan according to the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act, No 28 of 2002. The ‘social’ component refers to the ‘social upliftment’ of communities within or adjacent to any mine; whereas the ‘labour’ component refers to the mine workers sourced from the specific community. A qualitative methodology is followed using the case study as research instrument for the Nokeng Mine and Moloto community with interviews and focus group discussions. The target population comprised of the Moloto Tribal Council members (8 in-depth interviews), the Moloto community members (17: focus groups); and the Nokeng Mine representatives (4 in-depth interviews). In this pilot study two disparate ‘worlds’ are potentially linked: on the one hand, the mine as social entrepreneur that is searching for feasible and sustainable ideas; and on the other hand, the community adjacent to the mine, with potentially sustainable tourism entrepreneurs that can tap into the resources of the mine should their ideas be feasible to build their businesses. Being an exploratory study the findings are limited but indicate that the possible success of tourism and sustainable livelihood activities lies in the fact that both the Mine and Community are keen to work together – the mine in terms of obtaining labour and profit; and the community in terms of improved and sustainable social and economic conditions; with both parties realizing the importance to mitigate negative environmental impacts. In conclusion, a relationship of trust is imperative between a mine and a community before a long term liaison is possible. However whether tourism is a viable solution for the community to engage in is debatable. The community could initially rather pursue the sustainable livelihoods approach and focus on life-supporting activities such as building, gardening, etc. that once established could feed into possible sustainable tourism activities.

Keywords: community development, mining tourism, sustainability, South Africa

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Authors: Tshephang Bright Molale

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Much is written on the importance of participatory communication and its role in uplifting indigent communities. As the closest government sphere to communities, local government is charged with directly improving the lives of the poor and is required by legislation to conduct Integrated Development Planning (IDP). This requires a municipality to utilise participatory communication aspects including dialogue, empowerment, and planning. These are most important pillars of community development. However, many studies have warned that elements such as modernisation, dependency and bureaucracy need to be observed with caution since they have the potential to impede and limit the extent of participatory communication in community development. These concepts serve as the basic points of departure and theoretical background underpinning this study, which is tasked with exploring the extent of participatory communication in the IDP context of Jouberton Township in the Matlosana Local Municipality, South Africa. In her public address on challenges facing South Africa’s local municipalities in January 2014, former premier, Thandi Modise, emphasised the need for communities to attend municipal IDP meetings, approve earmarked IDP projects, and learn about municipal budget spending. It is evident from theory and higher echelon of government that participatory communication is seen as cardinal to the existence of municipal government. From this background, this study was carried out under the assumption that the practice of participatory communication in contemporary local government only exists on paper; while in reality the public does not enjoy active participation in municipal IDP consultative frameworks. This is despite much discourse being available in government and in academia around the importance of participatory communication in community development. The study espoused a qualitative research approach to gather data and purposive sampling was used to select respondents linked to two IDP projects in Jouberton Township from the 2012/13 financial year. Its purpose was to explore perceptions among municipal representatives and community members in Jouberton Township on the extent of participatory communication in the IDP context. The empirical part of the study comprised of focus group, unstructured interviews, and participant observation. The study revealed that Jouberton communities are passive participators in municipal IDP consultative frameworks where they participate by just being informed about what is going to happen or has already happened and feedback is minimal. This is opposed to a desired form of empowered participation which is recommended by scholars in development communication where stakeholders granted space to participate in joint analysis and joint decision-making about what should be achieved and how. It has been discovered that there is a lack of active participation in community development in the IDP context of Matlosana Municipality and the study makes recommendations on how transformative participatory communication can be applied to improve current norms and standards in local government.

Keywords: development communication, government communication, integrated development plan, participatory communication

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Authors: Yen-Sheng Ho

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It is important to actively adjust the legal system of land use in archaeological sites and the reward system to meet the needs of modern society and to solve the dilemma of government management. Under the principle of administration according to law and the principle of the clarity of law, human rights, legal orders and legitimate expectation shall be regulated. The Cultural Heritage Preservation Act has many norms related to archaeological sites in Taiwan. However, in practice, the preservation of archaeological sites still encounters many challenges. For instance, some archaeological sites have ‘management and maintenance plans’. The restrictions of land uses are not clearly defined making it difficult to determine how planting types and cultivation methods will impact the underground relics. In addition, there are questions as follows. How to coordinate the ‘site preservation plan’ with the Regional Planning Act and the Urban Planning Act? How to define preservation of land, preservation area and other uses of land or area? How to define land use in practice? How to control land use? After selecting three sites for the case investigation, this study will analyze the site’s land use status and propose the direction of land use and control methods. This study suggests that the prerequisite to limit the use of land is to determine the public interest in the preservation of the site. Another prerequisite is to establish a mechanism for permitting the use of the site and for setting the site preservation and zoning maintenance practices according to the Regional Planning Act, Urban Planning Act and other relevant rules, such as, land use zoning, land use control, land management, land maintenance, regional development and management and etc.

Keywords: archaeological site, land use and site preservation plan, regional planning, urban planning

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Authors: Narges Ebadi, Davod Ahmadi, Hiliary Monteith, Hugo Melgar-Quinonez

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Migration cannot necessarily relieve pressure on water resources in origin communities, and male out-migration can increase the water management burden of women. However, inflows of financial remittances seem to offer possibilities of investing in improving drinking-water access. Therefore, remittances may be an important pathway for migrants to support water security. This paper explores the association between water access and the receipt of remittances in households in sub-Saharan Africa. Data from round 6 of the 'Afrobarometer' surveys in 2016 were used (n= 49,137). Descriptive, bivariate and multivariate statistical analyses were carried out in this study. Regardless of country, findings from descriptive analyses showed that approximately 80% of the respondents never received remittance, and 52% had enough clean water. Only one-fifth of the respondents had piped water supply inside the house (19.9%), and approximately 25% had access to a toilet inside the house. Bivariate analyses revealed that even though receiving remittances was significantly associated with water supply, the strength of association was very weak. However, other factors such as the area of residence (rural vs. urban), cash income frequencies, electricity access, and asset ownership were strongly associated with water access. Results from unadjusted multinomial logistic regression revealed that the probability of having no access to piped water increased among remittance recipients who received financial support at least once a month (OR=1.324) (p < 0.001). In contrast, those not receiving remittances were more likely to regularly have a water access concern (OR=1.294) (p < 0.001), and not have access to a latrine (OR=1.665) (p < 0.001). In conclusion, receiving remittances is significantly related to water access as the strength of odds ratios for socio-demographic factors was stronger.

Keywords: remittances, water access, SSA, migration

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Authors: Stefan Fuchs

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Against the backdrop of the proliferation of shopping malls in Japan during the last two decades, this paper presents the results of an ethnography conducted at a recently built suburban shopping mall in Western Tokyo. Through the analysis of the lived experiences of local residents, mall customers and the mall management this paper evaluates the benefits and disadvantages of the Business Improvement District (BID) model, which was implemented as urban redevelopment strategy in the area surrounding the shopping mall. The results of this research project show that while the BID model has in some respects contributed to the economic prosperity and to the perceived convenience of the area, it has led to gentrification and the redevelopment shows some deficiencies with regard to the inclusion of the elderly population as well as to the democratization of the decision-making process within the area. In Japan, shopping malls have been steadily growing both in size and number since a series of deregulation policies was introduced in the year 2000 in an attempt to push the domestic economy and to rejuvenate urban landscapes. Shopping malls have thereby become defining spaces of the built environment and are arguably important places of social interaction. Notwithstanding the vital role they play as factors of urban transformation, they have been somewhat overlooked in the research on Japan; especially with respect to their meaning for people’s everyday lives. By examining the ways, people make use of space in a shopping mall the research project presented in this paper addresses this gap in the research. Moreover, the research site of this research project is one of the few BIDs of Japan and the results presented in this paper can give indication on the scope of the future applicability of this urban redevelopment model. The data presented in this research was collected during a nine-months ethnographic fieldwork in and around the shopping mall. This ethnography includes semi-structured interviews with ten key informants as well as direct and participant observations examining the lived experiences and perceptions of people living, shopping or working at the shopping mall. The analysis of the collected data focused on recurring themes aiming at ultimately capturing different perspectives on the same aspects. In this manner, the research project documents the social agency of different groups within one communal network. The analysis of the perceptions towards the urban redevelopment around the shopping mall has shown that mainly the mall customers and large businesses benefit from the BID redevelopment model. While local residents benefit to some extent from their neighbourhood becoming more convenient for shopping they perceive themselves as being disadvantaged by changing demographics due to rising living expenses, the general noise level and the prioritisation of a certain customer segment or age group at the shopping mall. Although the shopping mall examined in this research project is just an example, the findings suggest that in future urban redevelopment politics have to provide incentives for landowners and developing companies to think of other ways of transforming underdeveloped areas.

Keywords: business improvement district, ethnography, shopping mall, urban redevelopment

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Authors: Sushmita Chaudhuri, Parthiba Basu

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Urbanization leads to habitat degradation and is responsible for the fast disappearance of native butterfly species. Random sampling of rural, suburban and urban sites in an around Kolkata metropolis revealed the presence of 28 species of butterfly belonging to 5 different families in winter (February-March). Butterfly diversity, species richness and abundance decreased with increase in urbanization. Psyche (Leptosia nina of family Pieridae) was the most predominant butterfly species found everywhere in Kolkata during the winter period. The most dominant family was Nymphalidae (11species), followed by Pieridae (6 species), Lycaenidae (5 species), Papilionidae (4 species) and Hesperiidae (2 species). The rural and suburban sites had butterfly species that were unique to those sites. Vegetation cover and flowering shrub density were significantly related to butterfly diversity.

Keywords: butterfly, Kolkata metropolis, Shannon-Weiner diversity index, species diversity

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Authors: Tzen-Ying Ling

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Recently, the resilience of dwellings in urban areas has been deliberated, as to accommodate the growing demand for changing the demography and rapid urbanization. The need to incorporate sustainability and cleaner production thinking have intensified to mitigate climate risks and satisfy the demand for housing. The modular thinking satisfies both the pressing call for fast-tracked housing stocks; while meeting the goal of more sustainable production. In the other side, the importance of the dwelling as a podium for well-being and social connectedness are sought to explore the key human/environment design thinking for the modular system in dwelling. We argue the best practice incorporates the concept of systemic components thinking. The fieldwork reported in this paper illustrates the process of the case study in a modular dwelling unit prototype development; focusing on the systemic frame system design process and adjustment recommendation hereafter. Using a case study method, the study identified that: (1) inclusive human dimensional factoring through systemic design thinking results in affordable implementations possibilities. (2) The environmental dimension encourages the place-based solution suited for the locality and the increasing demand for dwelling in the urban system. (3) Prototype design consideration avails module system component as dwelling construction alternative. (4) Building code often acts as an inhibitor for such dwelling units by the restriction in lot sizes and units placement. The demand for fast-track dwelling construction and cleaner production decisively outweighs the code inhibition; we further underscored the sustainability implication of the alternative prototype as the core of this study. The research suggests that modular thinking results in a resilient solution suited for the locality and the increasing demand for dwelling in the urban system.

Keywords: system prototype, urban resilience, human/environment dimension, modular thinking, dwelling alternative

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